WDCG-FM
Encyclopedia
WDCG, or G105 on 105.1 FM is a Contemporary hit radio
station in the Raleigh-Durham radio market. Its studios are located on Smoketree Court in Raleigh's Highwoods Office Park and owned by Clear Channel Worldwide, along with 93.9 KISS-FM, 100.7 the River
, and Rush Radio 106.1
.
; both were owned by The Durham Morning Herald and Durham Sun
. The sign-on of the 36,000-watt FM station coincided with the AM station's power increase and frequency shift from 1490 to 620 kilohertz. In 1953, the Herald-Sun group joined WTIK
owners Floyd Fletcher and Harmon Duncan in securing a license to operate a television station in Durham, which would eventually become WTVD
Channel 11 the following year. Until the mid-1970s, WDNC-FM simulcast the AM programming from an antenna located atop one of AM 620's three towers on Shocoree Drive in western Durham just off Interstate 85
. (The old 105.1 FM antenna is still visible on the tower nearest downtown.)
In 1974, WDNC-FM became a country station and changed its calls to WDCG-FM (Durham's Country Giant). The station later switched to rock music in the late 1970s before becoming a Top 40 station in Fall 1981. A year later, the station boosted their power to 100,000 watts and moved to the former WPTF-TV (now WRDC) tower at Terrell's Mountain in northern Chatham County. This allowed WDCG-FM to put a city grade into Raleigh,Durham and Chapel Hill, as well as a 60 dbu signal into Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem where the station even beat the local Top 40s from 60 miles away. WDCG, licensed to Durham, was the first station in the Raleigh-Durham market to obtain a dual city of license in terms of their station identification in 1982, and surprised the stations in Raleigh with its designation of WDCG-Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill.
With no promotional dollars and against the powerhouses of WRAL-FM and WQDR-FM, WDCG grew every 6 months in Arbitron starting in the Fall of 1981 with a 1.8 - 4.5 - 9.0 - 9.8 - 11.1 - 14.5 by the Spring of 1984.
WDCG was operated as a loss leader for years by the Durham Herald-Sun, as the owners felt eventually newspapers would be viewed on a computer screen - and they had the distribution system via WDCG's FM sub-carrier that the Raleigh News and Observer did not have. The Durham Herald-Sun had never separated the financial books of WDCG and WDNC. The combined stations had only been profitable in 2 of the 10 years prior to 1983 - with a $10,000 profit one year and a $59,000 profit in 1979. By 1984, WDCG alone was billing just under $4 Million Dollars (inflation adjusted about $16,000,000 today). Over $60,000 a month was coming in from the Greensboro-High Point market, 60 miles away, where WDCG had a dedicated salesperson.
WDCG operated from the Herald-Sun building in Downtown Durham from its 1948 sign-on until 1992, when the station, along with WDNC, moved to more spacious studios at Park Forty Plaza in southern Durham near Research Triangle Park
as the owners saw their loss leader turn into a cash cow. The new facilities included state of the art computer integration, including software controlled transmitters and audio playback from hard disk.
In 1993, the Herald-Sun sold WDCG to Prizm Broadcasting, which had also purchased Vilcom's WZZU 93.9 (now WKSL-FM). After following four different ownership changes, WDCG and its sister stations later moved into Raleigh's Smoketree Tower, now called the Highwoods Building, and are now owned by Clear Channel Worldwide.
In 2004, the station's FM class was slightly downgraded from a class "C" to a class "C-0", allowing WZBL-FM
, a Clear Channel station in Roanoke, Virginia
, to make an upgrade to its signal. No changes were necessary to WDCG's actual facilities in the short term. In March 2005, the FCC approved the station's moving their antenna from Terrell's Mountain to the former WLFL-TV
analog tower in Apex
in an effort to provide better, more centralized coverage of the market. The change involved a drop in power from 100,000 watts to 73,000 watts and another downgrade in class, this time to a class "C-1". On March 13, 2008, WDCG began broadcasting from the Apex site.The move actually increased the covered population inside the stations coverage by more than 500,000 persons, improved building penetration and placed the station as the second best signal in the market, just behind it's sister station WKSL 93.9. By 2011
, the station moved towards an adult top 40 direction because of WPLW taking the contemporary hit radio
format and also due to no adult top 40 stations in Raleigh/Durham (the company also owns its sister rhythmic contemporary
station WKSL), but is still billed as contemporary hit radio
per Nielsen BDS & Mediabase
. In addition, higher-charting songs are below 100 spins per week.
, which had many in the music trades questioning whether they were moving towards that direction. But by the end of that decade they scaled back on the Alternative fare and returned to a more mainstream approach.
Like most Top 40s in the Clear Channel roster, G105 will play all of today's hits (a majority of them favoring rhythmic product) and follow the national musical trend that is reflected in Billboard
and radio trades Mediabase
and R&R
, the latter of which has WDCG listed as a Top 40/CHR panel reporter.
Weekends
WDCG has various weekend talent, along with weekday talent filling in on the weekends.
is a morning show airing 5:00AM to 10:00AM. The Showgram has had a variety of interns over the years and used to be called the "Bob and Madison Showgram" until co-host Madison Lane left to do her own morning gig at sister station WRSN in 2004. In 2007 Bob briefly went off the air to have a brain tumor removed, and has since returned. Its cast currently is Bob, Mike and John.
Dumas, who has been with WDCG for nearly 16 years, is no stranger to controversy. In 2004, a Durham minister started an online petition to oust Dumas for what the minister called "racially incendiary" comments about "American Idol
" winner Fantasia Barrino
, who is black. Dumas used the terms "ghetto" and "low class" during the show to describe Barrino.
In 2003, he drew the wrath of bicycling enthusiasts in the Research Triangle area for finding humor in motorists who assault cyclists or run them down with their vehicles.
On April 1, 2008, Dumas caused yet another controversy after addressing an intern who was engaged to a member of the Lumbee
tribe of Native Americans
. He made derogatory remarks about how Indians dressed, called them "lazy" and "in-bred," insulted Pocahontas
and Sacajawea while playing traditional Indian music, and referred to a "tepee
-warming party
."
Dumas and G-105 general manager Dick Harlow apologized on the air April 9, and the hosts of the show were suspended for three days. This did not satisfy people who protested at the North Carolina State Capitol
, demanding the permanent firing of those who made the offensive remarks. The North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs also asked for a more serious punishment and called for a boycott
of Clear Channel advertisers. Those siding with the radio hosts pointed out that on the same broadcast, they also offended Hispanics, Asians, blacks
and the people of North Carolina in general.
Paul Brooks, chairman of the Commission for Indian Affairs, said that on April 16, his group met with Harlow, who promised there would be no more derogatory remarks about Native Americans, and that Clear Channel would broadcast information on WDCG and other stations related to "American Indian-related education and outreach." Meanwhile, Dumas caused more controversy by commenting on whether immigrants visiting Raleigh's Mexican Consulate were actually illegal.
On July 21, 2011, it was announced live on-air that "Kentucky Kristin" Klingshirn will be leaving the show to move on to The Bert Show on Q100
in Atlanta, GA. The Showgram will be hosting a "guest VaJJ" contest in order to fill that position vacated by Kristin; and the listeners get to vote on who will become the next member of the Showgram.
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
station in the Raleigh-Durham radio market. Its studios are located on Smoketree Court in Raleigh's Highwoods Office Park and owned by Clear Channel Worldwide, along with 93.9 KISS-FM, 100.7 the River
WRVA-FM
WRVA-FM is a Classic Hits radio station that serves the Raleigh-Durham market of North Carolina. Its studios are located at Smoketree Court in Raleigh and its city of license is in Wake Forest...
, and Rush Radio 106.1
WRDU-FM
WRDU , known as "Rush Radio 106.1", is a talk radio formatted radio station that serves the Raleigh-Durham market of North Carolina. It is owned and operated by Clear Channel Worldwide. Sister stations include G105, 93.9 KISS-FM, and 100.7 the River...
.
History
WDCG first began as a radio station in February 1948 as WDNC-FM 105.1, a sister station to WDNC-AMWDNC (AM)
WDNC is a Sports Talk radio station licensed to Durham, North Carolina but based in Raleigh, North Carolina with a frequency of 620 AM. WDNC and branded 620 the Buzz and is affiliated with the ESPN Radio Network...
; both were owned by The Durham Morning Herald and Durham Sun
The Herald-Sun (Durham, North Carolina)
The Herald-Sun is a daily newspaper in Durham, North Carolina, published by the Paxton Media Group of Paducah, Kentucky.-History:The Herald-Sun began publication on 1 January 1991 as the result of a merger of The Durham Morning Herald and The Durham Sun.The Herald-Sun and The Durham Morning Herald...
. The sign-on of the 36,000-watt FM station coincided with the AM station's power increase and frequency shift from 1490 to 620 kilohertz. In 1953, the Herald-Sun group joined WTIK
WTIK
WTIK is a radio station broadcasting a Regional Mexican format. Licensed to Durham, North Carolina, USA, the station serves the Triangle area. The station is currently owned by Davidson Media Station Wtik Licensee, LLC....
owners Floyd Fletcher and Harmon Duncan in securing a license to operate a television station in Durham, which would eventually become WTVD
WTVD
WTVD, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, licensed to Durham, North Carolina. The station serves the areas of Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Fayetteville, known as the Triangle...
Channel 11 the following year. Until the mid-1970s, WDNC-FM simulcast the AM programming from an antenna located atop one of AM 620's three towers on Shocoree Drive in western Durham just off Interstate 85
Interstate 85
Interstate 85 is a major interstate highway in the Southeastern United States. Its current southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus interchanges with Interstate 95 in Petersburg, Virginia, near Richmond...
. (The old 105.1 FM antenna is still visible on the tower nearest downtown.)
In 1974, WDNC-FM became a country station and changed its calls to WDCG-FM (Durham's Country Giant). The station later switched to rock music in the late 1970s before becoming a Top 40 station in Fall 1981. A year later, the station boosted their power to 100,000 watts and moved to the former WPTF-TV (now WRDC) tower at Terrell's Mountain in northern Chatham County. This allowed WDCG-FM to put a city grade into Raleigh,Durham and Chapel Hill, as well as a 60 dbu signal into Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem where the station even beat the local Top 40s from 60 miles away. WDCG, licensed to Durham, was the first station in the Raleigh-Durham market to obtain a dual city of license in terms of their station identification in 1982, and surprised the stations in Raleigh with its designation of WDCG-Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill.
With no promotional dollars and against the powerhouses of WRAL-FM and WQDR-FM, WDCG grew every 6 months in Arbitron starting in the Fall of 1981 with a 1.8 - 4.5 - 9.0 - 9.8 - 11.1 - 14.5 by the Spring of 1984.
WDCG was operated as a loss leader for years by the Durham Herald-Sun, as the owners felt eventually newspapers would be viewed on a computer screen - and they had the distribution system via WDCG's FM sub-carrier that the Raleigh News and Observer did not have. The Durham Herald-Sun had never separated the financial books of WDCG and WDNC. The combined stations had only been profitable in 2 of the 10 years prior to 1983 - with a $10,000 profit one year and a $59,000 profit in 1979. By 1984, WDCG alone was billing just under $4 Million Dollars (inflation adjusted about $16,000,000 today). Over $60,000 a month was coming in from the Greensboro-High Point market, 60 miles away, where WDCG had a dedicated salesperson.
WDCG operated from the Herald-Sun building in Downtown Durham from its 1948 sign-on until 1992, when the station, along with WDNC, moved to more spacious studios at Park Forty Plaza in southern Durham near Research Triangle Park
Research Triangle Park
The Research Triangle Park is a research park in the United States. It is located near Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill, in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina...
as the owners saw their loss leader turn into a cash cow. The new facilities included state of the art computer integration, including software controlled transmitters and audio playback from hard disk.
In 1993, the Herald-Sun sold WDCG to Prizm Broadcasting, which had also purchased Vilcom's WZZU 93.9 (now WKSL-FM). After following four different ownership changes, WDCG and its sister stations later moved into Raleigh's Smoketree Tower, now called the Highwoods Building, and are now owned by Clear Channel Worldwide.
In 2004, the station's FM class was slightly downgraded from a class "C" to a class "C-0", allowing WZBL-FM
WZBL
WSFF and WSNZ are Adult Hits formatted broadcast radio stations. WSFF is licensed to Vinton, Virginia, serving Metro Roanoke. WSFF is owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications and WSNZ is licensed to Lynchburg, Virginia serving Metro Lynchburg...
, a Clear Channel station in Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
, to make an upgrade to its signal. No changes were necessary to WDCG's actual facilities in the short term. In March 2005, the FCC approved the station's moving their antenna from Terrell's Mountain to the former WLFL-TV
WLFL
WLFL is the CW-affiliated television station for North Carolina's Triangle licensed to Raleigh. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter located in Auburn, North Carolina. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 2 and in high definition...
analog tower in Apex
Apex, North Carolina
Apex is a town in Wake County, North Carolina and a suburb of Raleigh. The population was 37,476 according to the 2010 census., wakegov.com-Geography:Apex is located at ....
in an effort to provide better, more centralized coverage of the market. The change involved a drop in power from 100,000 watts to 73,000 watts and another downgrade in class, this time to a class "C-1". On March 13, 2008, WDCG began broadcasting from the Apex site.The move actually increased the covered population inside the stations coverage by more than 500,000 persons, improved building penetration and placed the station as the second best signal in the market, just behind it's sister station WKSL 93.9. By 2011
2011 in radio
The following events occurred in radio broadcasting in 2011.-Events:*January 1: 2 Knoxville stations change formats as WDLF and WYLV flip to K-LOVE and Air 1 , and a few Pittsburgh station change formats, as ESPN Radio moves from WEAE to WBGG, and Radio Disney moves from WWCS to the renamed WDDZ,...
, the station moved towards an adult top 40 direction because of WPLW taking the contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
format and also due to no adult top 40 stations in Raleigh/Durham (the company also owns its sister rhythmic contemporary
Rhythmic Contemporary
Rhythmic contemporary, also known as rhythmic top 40, rhythmic contemporary hit radio or rhythmic crossover, is a music radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary rarely uses rock music or country music in its airplay, but it may...
station WKSL), but is still billed as contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
per Nielsen BDS & Mediabase
Mediabase
Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytical tools for radio and record industry professionals...
. In addition, higher-charting songs are below 100 spins per week.
Its Top 40 direction and musical leanings
Interestingly during the 1990s G105 also leaned heavily towards Modern rockModern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
, which had many in the music trades questioning whether they were moving towards that direction. But by the end of that decade they scaled back on the Alternative fare and returned to a more mainstream approach.
Like most Top 40s in the Clear Channel roster, G105 will play all of today's hits (a majority of them favoring rhythmic product) and follow the national musical trend that is reflected in Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
and radio trades Mediabase
Mediabase
Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytical tools for radio and record industry professionals...
and R&R
R&R (magazine)
R&R was a weekly music trade publication that followed the radio industry and tracked the monitoring of current songs by format, station and audience cumes...
, the latter of which has WDCG listed as a Top 40/CHR panel reporter.
ON AIR
Weekdays- 6a-10a: Bob and the ShowgramBob and the ShowgramBob and the Showgram is a morning radio show based at WDCG-FM in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina that airs from 6 am to 10 am weekdays. The current cast consists of radio personalities Host Bob Dumas, Executive Producer Mike Morse, and Co-Host Erica Delong....
- 10a-Noon: Brody
- Noon-4p: Ryan SeacrestRyan SeacrestRyan John Seacrest is an American radio personality, television host, network producer and voice actor. He is the host of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, a nationally syndicated Top 40 radio show that airs on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles and throughout the United States and Canada on Premiere Radio Networks,...
- 4p-7p: Randi West (also serves as Program Director)
- 7p-12a: Geller
- 12a-5a: Porkchop Jenkins
Weekends
- 6a-10a: Best of Bob and The Showgram (Saturday Only)
- 8a-Noon: American top 40 with Ryan Seacrest
WDCG has various weekend talent, along with weekday talent filling in on the weekends.
Bob and the Showgram
Bob and the ShowgramBob and the Showgram
Bob and the Showgram is a morning radio show based at WDCG-FM in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina that airs from 6 am to 10 am weekdays. The current cast consists of radio personalities Host Bob Dumas, Executive Producer Mike Morse, and Co-Host Erica Delong....
is a morning show airing 5:00AM to 10:00AM. The Showgram has had a variety of interns over the years and used to be called the "Bob and Madison Showgram" until co-host Madison Lane left to do her own morning gig at sister station WRSN in 2004. In 2007 Bob briefly went off the air to have a brain tumor removed, and has since returned. Its cast currently is Bob, Mike and John.
Dumas, who has been with WDCG for nearly 16 years, is no stranger to controversy. In 2004, a Durham minister started an online petition to oust Dumas for what the minister called "racially incendiary" comments about "American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
" winner Fantasia Barrino
Fantasia Barrino
Fantasia Monique Barrino commonly known as Fantasia, is an American R&B singer, Broadway and television actress who rose to fame as the winner of the third season of the reality television series American Idol in 2004. Following her victory, she released her debut single, "I Believe", which...
, who is black. Dumas used the terms "ghetto" and "low class" during the show to describe Barrino.
In 2003, he drew the wrath of bicycling enthusiasts in the Research Triangle area for finding humor in motorists who assault cyclists or run them down with their vehicles.
On April 1, 2008, Dumas caused yet another controversy after addressing an intern who was engaged to a member of the Lumbee
Lumbee
The Lumbee belong to a state recognized Native American tribe in North Carolina. The Lumbee are concentrated in Robeson County and named for the primary waterway traversing the county...
tribe of Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
. He made derogatory remarks about how Indians dressed, called them "lazy" and "in-bred," insulted Pocahontas
Pocahontas
Pocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...
and Sacajawea while playing traditional Indian music, and referred to a "tepee
Tipi
A tipi is a Lakota name for a conical tent traditionally made of animal skins and wooden poles used by the nomadic tribes and sedentary tribal dwellers of the Great Plains...
-warming party
Housewarming party
A housewarming party is a party held within approximately 90 days of moving into a new residence. It is an occasion for the hosts to present their new home to their friends, and for friends to give gifts to furnish the new home...
."
Dumas and G-105 general manager Dick Harlow apologized on the air April 9, and the hosts of the show were suspended for three days. This did not satisfy people who protested at the North Carolina State Capitol
North Carolina State Capitol
The North Carolina State Capitol is the main house of government of the U.S. state of North Carolina. Housing the offices of the Governor of North Carolina, it is located in the state capital of Raleigh on Union Square at One East Edenton Street. The cornerstone of the Greek Revival building was...
, demanding the permanent firing of those who made the offensive remarks. The North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs also asked for a more serious punishment and called for a boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
of Clear Channel advertisers. Those siding with the radio hosts pointed out that on the same broadcast, they also offended Hispanics, Asians, blacks
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
and the people of North Carolina in general.
Paul Brooks, chairman of the Commission for Indian Affairs, said that on April 16, his group met with Harlow, who promised there would be no more derogatory remarks about Native Americans, and that Clear Channel would broadcast information on WDCG and other stations related to "American Indian-related education and outreach." Meanwhile, Dumas caused more controversy by commenting on whether immigrants visiting Raleigh's Mexican Consulate were actually illegal.
On July 21, 2011, it was announced live on-air that "Kentucky Kristin" Klingshirn will be leaving the show to move on to The Bert Show on Q100
WWWQ (FM)
WNNX is an Atlanta radio station that is owned and operated by Cumulus Media. The station broadcasts from the same building as its other Cumulus Atlanta sister stations WWWQ FM 99.7 and 99X...
in Atlanta, GA. The Showgram will be hosting a "guest VaJJ" contest in order to fill that position vacated by Kristin; and the listeners get to vote on who will become the next member of the Showgram.
WDCG Past On-Air Staff
WDCG has a storied history developing personalities. Many of these on-air figures become long-time Raleigh-Durham favorites, and others moved to bigger markets. Below are some of a few.- Rick Freeman
- Mike Edwards
- Wayne Michaels
- Ron McKay
- Madison Lane
- Will Vickers
- Mike Mitchell
- Jim Harrison
- Mark Burke
- Marc Anthony
- Ashley
- Sean Sellers
- TJ Lambeth
- Rita Chapman
- Jeff Dantre
- Joe Knuckles
- Benji Norton
- Brian Patrick
- Christ St. John
- Mark Mitchell
- Ordinary Joe Gonzales
- Melinda Stubbee
- Jim Sackett
- Barry Brown
- Tom Britt